Saina Nehwal, all geared up for Tai’s test

All England Championship is around the corner with the tricky draws and the trickiest draw is going to be between the Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal and World no. 1 Tai Tzu Ying, while the Singapore Open winner B Sai Praneeth will face the former world no. 1 and veteran Son Wan Ho. The five-day long tourney will be held from March 14 to 18 in Birmingham.

It has been tough for the world no. 11, who was an All England Open 2015 finalist, as she never registered victory over the Chinese Taipei girl in their last seven meetings and the recent loss being in the finals of the recently held Indonesia Open.

“Winning or losing is the different scenario. I had battled issues with my leg and now I’m training with boys with some tough rallies to strengthen my legs. I’m trying to cut down my mistakes which have crept in my game. I’m happy with my movements but still until you play your match you don’t know especially against someone who is very strong. I’m waiting to play the match now and I’m happy with the kind of preparations went on, mainly happy with rehab which I wanted with my leg.

“Once I’m stronger with the body flexibility and legs, I feel I can pick up the difficult shots forgetting the game and can do those rallies and pick up more difficult shots as Tai has pulls it off from the last movement. One has to be very fit while playing against her,” said Saina as quoted by Telangana Today.

The 27-year-old said that she is feeling much better than Indonesian and India Opens, physically. “As far as results are concerned I’m happy. Physically, I’m much stronger than I was during the Indonesian Open.’’

On coming back to Hyderabad after three years under Vimal Kumar’s training in Bangalore, Saina changed her game movements as suggested by Gopichand. “The first thing which Gopichand sir told me was to correct my movements and get the body weight down. In these five weeks, we focused a lot on these aspects and finally happy with the movement, diet and recovery. As a coach that is all he could do and results will automatically come.”

For Saina, the New Service Rule is not at all a problem but the tight schedule and the 11-point format. “The New Service Rule is not an issue for the players like us but for the taller ones. But, yes the All England is not a good tournament for the new rule, as it the prestigious tournament. They could have introduced the rule from the Indonesia Open.

Saina finds the 21-point format has its own beauty with the kind of rallies. “The 11-point format will be good for the players like Lee Chong Wei who can play till 40; with best of five games and less strain. The 21-game has its own beauty, the kind of rallies and others. The 11-point game would not have these aspects. It will be like a T20 cricket game.’’

Saina said, “We got used to playing tougher matches which takes most of the physical stress. But, mental fitness is the key. If we are not fit mentally, the body will not allow you to play the match. There will be too much of pressure. It is a physical sport where it requires a lot of mental toughness in tight schedules.”